Skirmish

The babble of voices grew excited, acrimonious. Fac^s grew red. Suddenly the State Senator clenched his fist and swung at the Governor. The Governor careened against the wall. Before he could retaliate, his secretary jumped at him, pinioned his arms. Most of the flushed group at once took sides, shouted and pummeled each other. Police were called, but when they arrived the scuffle had subsided to a murmurous discussion.

The Governor--solid, persevering, long-mustached Democrat George Wylie Paul Hunt of Arizona who lately failed of reelection for his seventh term (TIME, Nov. 12) walked quietly down the Capitol steps. He explained that the blow he had received was "inadvertently brought about when State Senator Colter moved his arms in argument."

Argument in the Southwest has arisen bitterly and often over the subject Governor Hunt and Mr. Colter had been discussing--the Swing-Johnson bill, pending these several years in Congress, for the construction by the U. S. of a 550-ft., $125,000,000 power and irrigation dam (world's highest) in Black Canyon on the Colorado River. Mostly, the arguments have seen Arizonans pitted against sons of the six other States drained by the Colorado--Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, California. These have united behind California's Representative Philip David Swing and Senator Hiram Johnson, to obtain additional drinking water for Los Angeles, flood control for California's sub-sea-level Imperial Valley, and electric power for cities as distant as Cheyenne, Salt Lake City, Denver, San Diego. Arizona has doggedly called it a "power grab," a selfish California scheme to exploit Arizona's natural resource before Arizona herself is ready to use it.

The Swing-Johnson bill has passed the House. Arizona's two Senators, Ashurst and Hayden, prevented its passing the Senate only by a most heroic filibuster in the closing hours of last session. This session the bill has prime place on the Senate's calendar and Arizonans do not see how they are going to stop it again. A special engineering commission asked for by Congress last spring to make a final survey, has reported that the Swing-Johnson plans are entirely feasible, though perhaps $40,000,000 more expensive than estimated.

But Arizonans are bitter-enders. The Hunt-Colter fracas last week was only a minor skirmish on one side of the lines that will join battle again in Washington this winter.